To See the Spring
by DarkJonerys
Summary: After Persephone leaves for her springtime break and Hades is busy rebuilding his realm, Nico is enlisted to babysit his immortal tantrum-prone sister, Macaria. After well-placed advice and promises from Nico, the young goddess decides to go for what she wants. However, when trouble brews Nico and his friends race to find her before Hades kills them all.
1. Macaria

The end of winter was always the worst time in Nico di Angelo's life. He used to be overjoyed when Persephone would depart from the Underworld to go be with her mother for spring and summer. While she was never outright cruel to him, he knew she didn't like him very much. Many Goddesses were terrible to their husband's demigod children, and he was thankful that she tended to ignore him most of the time. However, it was always incredibly awkward when the whole family was together.

Now, he wished Persephone would never leave. Since souls still came in at an ever-alarming rate from the war with Gaia and they had to rebuild parts of the Underworld that were destroyed, Hades didn't have enough time to comfort the young Goddess Macaria throughout the time her mother was gone. Melinoe, their elder daughter, was lucky that she grew up, accepted Persephone's time away, and didn't have to take care of her younger sibling. To earn his keep, Hades had enlisted Nico to babysit his immortal sister this year.

Macaria, the Goddess of blessed death, was millennia old, but she never grew or took the form of a girl any older than ten. While it was not uncommon for Gods to sometimes favor the form of children, Nico tended to think Hades and Persephone's babying had everything to do with it. They would melt into a puddle at the first sign of a whine and gave her whatever she desired. Even Nico found it hard to deny her requests when she smiled sweetly and looked at him with her big violet eyes, promising to give him a blessed death and a free pass to Elysium when his time came.

Millennia ago, Hades and Persephone both came to a begrudging agreement that Macaria would stay in the Underworld while Persephone took her springtime leave as she was conceived and born there. Hades would not let his daughter be taken away and let her be tempted to leave her home in favor of the Upperworld.

It may have made sense to Nico if he had been born when the agreement had taken place, but it seemed unnecessary now. Every year, Persephone would tearfully say goodbye as Macaria threw a tantrum and begged her not to go. She would cry for weeks, only stopping if Hades coddled her or someone would devote his or her life to make sure she was preoccupied. Nico didn't know how his father had dealt with it for centuries.

However, her behavior was a stark contrast to what she was like in the winter months. She was very intelligent and acted older than her ten year old form. While Nico hardly spoke to her and didn't stay in the Underworld for long periods of time, they had always been on decent terms. Sometimes he forgot she was in the body of a child because she had always acted older. Apparently, for all the wisdom and knowledge she possessed, she still didn't understand why Mommy left every year.

Now it was Nico's problem to deal with, and he was sure that he wouldn't care if he received passage to Elysium or not, as long as Macaria didn't annoy him in the afterlife.

…

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase both had enough of the Underworld for their lifetimes and didn't want to step foot there again until they were dead. However, when Nico begged them for weeks to come down for the spring holiday, they begrudgingly accepted, unaware of what they were actually agreeing to. Sure, he had promised that they could all party in Elysium and the Isles of Blest, but there was always an ulterior motive when it came to anything regarding Hades.

When they arrived at Hades' palace, Percy quickly put his hands on his ears to drown out the screams as Nico rolled his eyes at the situation. "What's going on? It's louder than the Fields of Punishment in here!" Percy asked wondering why a dark haired child screamed while sitting on Persephone's throne.

"Persephone left," Nico said shrugging his shoulders. "And now we have to babysit."

Both Percy and Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy. How were any of them going to comfort a spoiled Goddess who wanted something she couldn't have?

"Look, Nico, we didn't sign up to babysit- especially a Goddess" Percy said uneasy with the situation. He had heard mention of how Hades had doted on his immortal daughters, the younger in particular. What if they screwed something up? He knew all blame would fall on him.

"Oh, Macaria is harmless really. I mean, she did almost tear Persephone's skirt from pulling it, but she doesn't usually curse people," Nico said. He hoped that Percy and Annabeth would be able to get her to stop wailing, as he was completely hopeless in that department. "Plus, we won't be able to gate crash Elysium without her."

"Macaria, hush," Annabeth crooned, knowing that Percy was at a loss of what to do. The young Goddess frowned at her, as Annabeth cautiously approached her, but at least her attention was focused on something else besides screaming for Persephone. "It's going to be okay."

"No, it's not," Macaria whined as tears slid down her cheeks. Annabeth got close enough to notice gemstones were woven in her dark curls. "Mother left."

"I know, but she will come back like she does every year," Annabeth sighed, motioning for Percy and Nico to come over. She thought that Demeter, Hades, and Persephone could have came to a better agreement by now, if only for Macaria's sake. Perhaps the Goddess would adopt an older form if her mother hadn't been taken away from her.

"Nico, where is Will?" Macaria asked, ignoring Annabeth completely as she gazed upon a golden harp in the corner of the throne room.

"Believe me if he could, I would make him be here," Nico said wishing his boyfriend was with him. Will was busy as a full time healer at Camp Halfblood, and there was only so much time that he could spend in the Underworld before he started missing the Sun and his creative juices stopped flowing.

Macaria also liked Will, a bit too much for Nico's liking, but he could keep her occupied for hours by playing the harp or painting with her. Macaria wasn't impressed with Nico's demigod abilities, for she could do the same and more, but Will's talents always delighted her.

"Do you want to show us around Elysium?" Percy asked as she began to cry again. That is why they had come in the first place anyway, and he would like to have a tour of their future home. Macaria's domain was Elysium, so she had to like it at least a little bit.

Annabeth smacked her face thinking Percy could be so daft, but Macaria's violet eyes lit up. "Only if I can hold your hand," Macaria smiled brightly at the boy she had been ignoring.

"Uh, sure, why not?" Percy said nervously as she slid off the throne and skipped to him, noting her complete personality switch (which wasn't uncommon when dealing with a God).

"Well come on then, Nico and friends!" Macaria squealed. Nico rolled his eyes, thinking that maybe she would have a chance with all the boys she fancied if she didn't look like she was ten years old.

…

When Macaria found out that the boy she was walking with was Percy Jackson in the flesh, she was giddy with excitement. He was very uncomfortable of course as she told him everything Nico had said about him, from the endless depths of his sea green eyes to his unparalleled fighting abilities. Luckily, Nico had already confessed that he had a crush on Percy.

Then she would start crying and demand to see her mother. The walk was quite exhausting when they had to deal with a screaming Goddess, and Percy was forced to carry her at one point and Nico at another.

"You need to be quiet, Macaria. Father won't be pleased if he can hear you all the way in the Judgment Pavilion," _the place where you should be, but you neglect your duties for months, and father never says anything_ , he failed to mention as he carried her. She went back to hold Percy's hand after that, but at least she had stopped wailing.

"Tell me about the sea," Macaria said, suddenly becoming serious as she wiped a tear off her cheek.

"Well, it's big," Percy said.

"Bigger than the River Styx?" she asked, and Percy and Annabeth realized that in all her thousands of years, she hadn't been allowed to see the wonders above.

"Yeah, it covers most of the earth," Percy said thinking of a better description. "You can look out for miles and never see the end. At a certain, point the blue of the water meets the sky. You can't tell which is which."

"We have a sky, but not a sea, nor a real sun," Macaria said sadly thinking of the illusion of the sky they did have. She wondered if the pink sky mixed with oranges and purple above Elysium or the gray storm clouds in Asphodel Fields were similar to anything he had seen in the Upperworld.

Percy squeezed her hand lightly as she began to silently cry. But soon the gates of Elysium were in front of them, and Macaria plastered on a smile as she opened the gates.

While everyone greeted Macaria and Nico, several people also greeted Percy and Annabeth. The children of Hades didn't even get to give Percy and Annabeth a tour before they were dragged off by some of the heroes they had been friends with in life.

They would have been welcome to join the festivities, but neither Macaria nor Nico felt like celebrating. Instead, they sat together on a bench watching the blessed souls go on with their party.

"I know you don't like me, Nico," Macaria said as her brother looked at her incredulously. "And it's all right, I still like you."

"Maybe I should bring Percy and Annabeth down here more often. It hasn't even been a day and you have stopped wailing like a wounded hellhound for more than a few minutes," Nico said a bit flabbergasted that she had fully come to her senses again.

"Do you want to know a secret? When Mother leaves it doesn't even hurt anymore," Macaria said, and Nico's jaw dropped. Was it an act the entire time? "I want Father to feel sorry for keeping me locked up here, and I want Mother to hate every moment she spends above. I even want you to suffer because you don't realize how lucky you are to come and go as you please. But you won't hear me say it again."

"You little devil, doing it all for show," Nico said still not believing what he was hearing. He didn't understand why she had confessed this to him as she could have made his life a living hell (as if he wasn't living there already) by screaming all day.

"If you tell Father…" She threatened.

"Why don't you tell Father?" Nico asked. "Surely, he must realize that it is the twenty first century, and that you should be able to be with your mother if you want to."

"He doesn't see it that way. Mother was taken away, so I have to stay." She said, "Why do you think Elysium is what it is? I've spent a lot of time learning what everyone desires. I turned their memories into a fake reality to make them feel at home and so I could have a version of a world I've never seen."

Her words pulled at Nico's heartstrings, and he found himself sighing in defeat. Even though she was much older than he was, he saw her as a baby sister that he needed to protect.

"I'll tell you what, as my word as a brother, I will help you convince Father of letting you go to California while I chaperone. But you would have to swear on the Styx that you won't run away and that you will return to the Underworld when I say it's time,"

"All right,"

"Then it's settled. We will give Percy and Annabeth time to party before we can tell them to go home. I'm sure they will both be relieved," Nico said chuckling at his friends who were currently partaking in the dance party that was going on.

"Percy is very handsome," Macaria said grinning as Nico huffed. He really did have beautiful eyes.

Apparently all children of Hades were destined to love Percy Jackson.

…

 **Author's Note:** I'm honestly just trying to get feedback from this story. Write in a review what you think or want to happen! It came to me on a whim, so I'm not sure if I should continue or not, even though I left it pretty open. I haven't read the PJO books in a long time, and I am not up to date on the Apollo books, but I'm eager to know what you all think!


	2. Elysium Punishment

While the Underworld wasn't completely devoid of any living vegetation, most of Elysium was an illusion. Its elaborate gardens held fauna that looked and smelled like roses, and it was impossible for a mortal eye to tell the difference. The butterflies were expertly woven amber and obsidian enchanted to fly in clusters amongst the rainbow flowers. In a certain light they sparkled, and that was when they lost the magic, for they weren't real.

No matter how beautiful or ingenious her creations were, Macaria was no mortal girl. Instead of beaming in awe like Persephone always did when she added to the realm, Macaria saw through everything.

It made her feel guilty because she was dealt a better card than her sister. As the patron Goddess of Elysium, Macaria was given a seat in the Judgment Pavilion- a great honor that had previously only been bestowed to her mother. While Melinoe wasn't forbidden from judging souls, it wasn't part of her duties. Even though she was the Goddess of ghosts, she was mainly there to corral and guide them before she slunk back into the shadows.

And as the youngest, Macaria was doted on by both her mother and father, not that her unsocial sister ever cared. However, it was incredibly stifling, and all she wanted to do was to see the world above. She wanted to pick flowers and see real living animals. She also wanted to know what an X-Box was considering Nico constantly complained about how he wished there was electricity and Wi-Fi, so he could bring it down here- not that she knew what Wi-Fi was either.

It had been a week since Nico suggested that she talk with Hades about her wish to see the Upperworld, and Percy and Annabeth had left to her dismay. Macaria pouted while pushing her cereal around with her spoon thinking of how unfair everything was, when she finally decided to take Nico's advice.

"Father," Macaria said abruptly slamming her spoon on the table. Hades looked up, while Nico bit his lip, hoping that Macaria wasn't going to confront their father with him in the room. "We need to talk."

Hades eyed her tiredly, not wanting to deal with another tantrum so early in the morning. He had a lot of work to do, and he just wanted to have a quiet breakfast before he started his monotonous day. So far, Nico had been doing a decent job at keeping her from pestering him. "Don't make it too long, Macaria," he sighed.

She frowned. "I want to go to the Upperworld with Mother."

"Macaria, I will not deal with this today. You know that you cannot," Hades said sternly, gripping his spoon. He already had to deal with eating Demeter's ghastly cereal that she made for them every spring, and that was enough to make anyone cross.

"But why? There is no reason why you can't allow me to go up there just once. I'm not a child!" She cried. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, as Nico jumped in his chair.

A fire lit in Hades' eyes as he glared at her insolence, "Look at yourself, Macaria, you are still a child," Hades said dismissively as he didn't actually want her to grow up now. "It was already agreed upon when you were in your mother's womb that your duty would be to your realm."

"Well, I never agreed to that," Macaria said as angry tears pricked in her eyes. "You're the one who stunted me by keeping me away from Mother!"

"Persephone wouldn't have to leave if I had my way," Hades retorted, enraged that she was blaming him for Zeus' decision to appease Demeter all those years ago. Nico had never heard him raise his voice to her before, and if he wasn't frozen in shock he would have ran as far away as he could.

"It doesn't matter where Mother is at, you should have done the right thing and let me go with her! Instead you keep me trapped here, miserably waiting for her to come home," Macaria shouted as she cried. At least when Persephone was home, she didn't think about going to the Upperworld as much.

Hades took no pity on her as he stood up and flung his chair away. She didn't even flinch, but Nico stood up and took several steps back just in case something were to miraculously blow up or things got ugly between his two godly family members. "Tomorrow, you will be in the Judgment Pavilion, or you will be punished, Macaria."

"I've already been sentenced to a life in Hell," Macaria sneered as she went to turn away from him, but Hades roughly caught her arm causing her to squeal in protest. She pleaded for him to let her go as his eyes flashed murderously.

"You would do well to remember that I am your Lord father, and that you belong to me," Hades said releasing her arm. He tried to calm himself before millennia of pent up anger boiled over. She stumbled back, and looked at him in shock. Even Nico was taken aback at what had just occurred.

"Then I hope someone will abduct me, and I'll never see you again," She said as her voice shook, trying not to cry. Macaria's lip trembled as her heart slowly fractured into pieces. Tears clouded her vision, and she turned to run out of the room.

"Macaria, wait," Hades said guiltily, but she had already ran out of the room. He didn't turn to face Nico, as he knew the boy would be ashamed at his actions. Instead, he disappeared and shadow traveled to the Judgment Pavilion, where he hoped judging souls would clear his heavy mind.

Up in her room, Macaria cried into her pillow, as Melinoe stepped out of the shadows and sat on her bed. The older girl held her arms out as Macaria looked up at her. There were no words spoken (Melinoe was always deathly quiet) as Macaria fell into her embrace.

"I want Mommy," Macaria cried as Melinoe stroked her back and rocked her as Persephone would have done.

There was an unspoken _I know_ , as Melinoe was no stranger to Persephone leaving in her youth. Perhaps she was just as damaged as Macaria was, just in a different way. She was doomed to grow up indifferent of her parents, and Macaria was cursed to stay young and dependent on them.

Either way, Persephone's absence affected them all.

…

The next day, Macaria was awoken early by one of her servants and was forced to wear one of her best gowns- a silk dress of dark plum embroidered with black diamonds and amethysts. The shade brushed her hair, letting it fall into a curtain of dark ringlets, and handed her a golden mirror. All Macaria saw was a tired little girl staring back at her, and she sighed.

The shade came back with an intricately carved black wooden box and carefully opened the lid. In it laid her Stygian iron tiara encrusted with black diamonds; a tiara only worn while she was judging souls. Macaria took it out of the box and put it on herself as it was lethal to shades and monsters, and the servant girl hadn't done anything wrong to warrant her imminent demise if she put the tiara on Macaria herself.

The tiara was a gift from Hades on the day she became the Goddess of Blessed Death. While the spirits couldn't hurt her, they could touch her and grab onto her skirts. The tiara discouraged them from getting close to her, even if they didn't know the reason why they were repelled away. Macaria almost put it back in the box just to spite her father, but then decided against it for her safety. Sighing, she knew she was ready to begin her duties for the day.

Nico smiled at her as she walked out of her bedroom, and she rolled her eyes. No doubt Hades had asked him to accompany her to make sure she was actually coming. Perhaps her father wasn't making idle threats after all, but it was quite infuriating having Nico on her heels all the way to the Pavilion.

"Princess," Minos said bowing his head to Macaria, but his eyes glared at Nico for besting him. She motioned for him to rise, as the other judges greeted her formally. Nico stood back and retreated to a corner as she acknowledged them with a nod of her head. When all of the formalities were done, she focused on her throne as she walked in order to ignore her father.

It was customary for her to bow before him, since judging souls was a sacred Underworld ceremony. As King of the Underworld, he had the final decision, and everyone had to submit. However, she wasn't going to today. Instead of stopping before him, she plopped herself in her throne and looked on as the first soul hesitantly walked up the stone steps and looked at them fearfully.

While Macaria's blatant disrespect was obvious, all attention from the other judges was directed to the man standing before them. Even though the man's life was fairly unremarkable, Minos and Thomas Jefferson still debated like they did on every soul. Macaria vowed that today she would only speak up if someone were worthy of Elysium, to annoy her father of course.

As both Minos and Jefferson said, "Asphodel," another man took his place as the new spirit faded away. This one had done unspeakable deeds, and Macaria was horrified as she watched the entirety of his life. Cruel, dark desires and malicious intent filled the ghost's mind, even in death. The man cackled as he described in detail what he would have done to Macaria, had she been one of his victims in life, and it made her tremble.

Hades wasted no time in declaring the Fields of Punishment for the vile man and stroked Macaria's hair as she shook like a leaf. Nico had stood up from his rock in the corner in order to defend her even though she would never need it. The man was dead and she was immortal.

"Come, Macaria, let's take a walk," Hades said as she looked at him for the first time that morning. He gently took her hand to coax her to come, and she hesitantly obliged, wanting to get away from the images she had just seen.

Hades handed Macaria a box wrapped in shiny black paper as they stepped out of the Judgment Pavilion and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ears. She slowly tore the paper and opened it. She frowned when she saw that it was a gold circlet inlayed with rubies and diamonds with a matching bracelet and necklace. The jewelry was the only apology she would receive.

"Perhaps when there isn't some sort of crisis and it gets slower down here, I will take you to visit your mother one spring," Hades said. But she knew it was an empty promise as things were hardly ever slow in the Underworld.

"There's always a crisis," Macaria responded quietly, unwilling to make amends so soon after what Hades had said to her.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Percy and Annabeth will be back! However, it may be Macaria/Hades/Nico centric for another chapter or two. Let me know what you think and if you want to see anything specific in a review!


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